Active Legal Appeals

Futurewise and Mercer Island residents filed an appeal with the Growth Management Hearings Board (GMHB) of the Mercer Island comprehensive plan in February 2025. We contend that the plan violates state law by failing to determine if the city has adequate capacity for emergency shelters, transitional housing, emergency housing, and permanent supportive housing, fails to adequately increase housing capacity near the new light rail station, and fails to adopt actions that repair harms to Black, Indigenous and other People of Color households from racially exclusive land use policies.

Our appeal will be the first to test new state housing law and a ruling in favor of the plaintiffs would set a new statewide precedent for local housing plans. State law HB 1220, passed in 2021 in response to the state’s housing crisis, sets new requirements for comprehensive plans to ensure that all cities and counties in the state are sharing in the effort to increase zoned capacity for housing. The new requirements particularly focus on allowing housing that serves people at all income levels, allowing more shelters and transitional housing, and adopting housing plans that particularly address the legacy of segregation and limit displacement of low-income communities and communities of color.

Mercer Island is one of Washington’s wealthiest cities and most expensive housing markets, with a median household income of $190,985 and median home price of $1.68 million. The appeal of the Mercer Island comprehensive plan contends that the comprehensive plan does not comply with HB 1220 nor does the plan comply with County Planning Policies (CPPs) that require comprehensive plans to prioritize housing options for low-income households, adopt actions that repair harms to Black, Indigenous and other People of Color households from racially exclusive land use policies, and adopt policies to promote equitable development.

In April, 2025 Futurewise filed our appeal of the Kitsap County comprehensive plan – our first county appeal of the 2024-2027 comprehensive plan update cycle, and the first county appeal addressing the updated housing and rural protection requirements from the State Legislature in 2021 (HB 1220) and the Puget Sound Regional Council’s VISION 2050.

There were four key issues in our appeal of the Kitsap County comprehensive plan: housing supply and affordability, rural growth, agricultural conservation, and surface and groundwater protection.

Our appeal aimed to demonstrate that we can successfully increase housing capacity, especially for low-income families, in our cities and towns while still protecting agricultural lands and open spaces for future generations. 

August 2025 Update 

The Growth Management Hearings Board decision was released with a big win, and some other mixed results on our contentions

The Hearings Board agreed with Futurewise that the County’s comprehensive plan:

• Failed to identify sufficient land for affordable housing, especially for low, very low, and extremely low and moderate-income levels. This decision is tremendous news for the implementation of new affordable housing policy statewide.
• Failed to identify multimodal emergency and evacuation routes and other development regulations to reduce and mitigate the risk to lives and property from wildfires.

And on three issues, Futurewise’s claims were dismissed:

• On rural growth rates, Kitsap’s comprehensive plan was found to be compliant.
• On designation of agricultural and natural resource lands, the Hearings Board agreed with the County that adequate analysis of agricultural and natural resource areas occurred.
• Futurewise’s contention regarding protection of surface and groundwater resources was dismissed on the basis that an earlier regulation had already addressed the requirement.

October 2025 Update 

Futurewise appeals the decision on ground water

Futurewise will be moving to transfer this case to the court of appeals, to consider Issue 13- relating to limiting withdrawals from permit-exempt wells, which impacts instream flows and salmon habitat.

In January 2020, Futurewise challenged Thurston County’s 2019 Comprehensive Plan updates. Futurewise argued that the County’s revisions failed to comply with the state’s Growth Management Act, particularly in areas concerning agricultural land preservation, rural density planning, and capital facilities planning. The case, filed with the Growth Management Hearings Board, highlighted discrepancies in land designations, inadequate protections for rural areas and critical environments, and insufficient financial planning for essential infrastructure.

The legal proceedings have seen numerous extensions has to accommodate legislative changes and ongoing negotiations and efforts by county staff. While Thurston County staff continue to work on aligning their Comprehensive Plan with the Growth Management Act’s requirements, they have also initiated a community-driven review of agricultural policies and programs. This review involved collaborating with the Agriculture Advisory Committee to explore incentive programs, utilizing updated USDA data to refine agricultural designations within the Comprehensive Plan, and researching potential amendments to the criteria for Long-Term Agriculture designations.

Thurston County has taken new action on farmland, but still have not designated agricultural lands that need to be protected. Futurewise will be appealing the new ordinance, and reactivating our appeal.

In fall 2024, Futurewise won our appeal before the State Supreme Court of King County’s Adult Beverage Ordinance. The Washington State Supreme Court ruled Thursday 9/19/24 that King County’s Adult Beverage Ordinance, originally passed in 2019, violated the State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) and the Growth Management Act (GMA). This ruling upholds farmland and rural area protection in King County and sets precedent for future preservation statewide.

Futurewise partnered with Friends of Sammamish Valley (FoSV) to appeal the ordinance and were supported by with other nonprofits, farmers, rural and urban residents, businesses, and community groups. Futurewise and FoSV contended the County failed to comply with legal requirements intended to ensure protection of agricultural lands, salmon habitat, open spaces, rural areas, and the environment. We identified numerous negative impacts that would result from opening protected resource lands and rural area residential neighborhoods across King County to tasting rooms, wine bars, taverns, and event centers.

Following our victory at the State Supreme Court, King County will now work to adopt a new ordinance that addresses community concerns.